Countdown to Columbus: Torres vs Adu?

If reports in the Mexican press are to be believed Pachuca’s Jose Francisco Torres will be called into the US squad for Wednesday’s mammoth qualifier against Mexico. The call up will have the obvious symbolic significance as Torres, a Mexican-American who plays with one of Mexico’s top clubs could figure against El Tri. But in fact a bigger issue may be at play in the entire US Player Pool.

A call up for Torres, and a continued role for the left footed midfielder could marginalize Freddy Adu. Torres and Adu are both smallish in body frame and play a similar style. Adu is the more technically gifted of the two and far more accomplished on the international level.

But Torres actually plays in meaningful matches for his club and has had his impact felt in both the CONCACAF Champions Cup and Club World Cup. This year Torres will be playing in the Copa Libertadoras. Bob Bradley and Assistant Peter Nowak convinced Torres to choose the US over Mexico.

Is it possible that Torres was promised playing time? Or perhaps Bradley was dissatisfied with how Adu was performing on the training pitch and felt he had to secure Torres services.

In a natural attacking formation room may exist for both Freddy Adu and Jose Torres. But in Bob Bradley’s US setup, defensive in nature two attacking midfielders whose game is similar are not needed. Additionally, Bradley has an extreme bias towards selecting his former Chicago Fire player, DaMarcus Beasley at left midfielder.

Beasley can hardly get a game for Rangers, but the perceived rules for being in form or getting regular playing time that have been applied to the likes of Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu or Michael Parkhurst never have been applied to DaMarcus Beasley or Carlos Bocanegra. Not so coincidently both of the aforementioned footballers played for Bradley in Chicago.

Bradley’s bias towards Beasley’s continued selection is not worth debating here. Bradley is comfortable with his former player, and the fact is that Beasley has started in the better part of two World Cups for the United States, so he is seasoned in a way that Adu and Torres are not at the international level. But the reality is that because of Beasley, Torres and Adu may be fighting one another for a spot on the US squad going forward.

About The Author

A lifelong lover of soccer, the beautiful game, he served from January 2010 until May 2013 as the Director of Communications and Public Relations for the North American Soccer League (NASL).
Raised on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the old NASL, Krishnaiyer previously hosted the American Soccer Show on the Champions Soccer Radio Network, the Major League Soccer Talk podcast and the EPL Talk Podcast.
His soccer writing has been featured by several media outlets including The Guardian and The Telegraph. He is the author of the book Blue With Envy about Manchester City FC.

6 Comments

Joey ClamsFebruary 5, 2009

I like Torres. And I’m not sure that 2-11 is an ideal time for Freddy. But Bradley would be out of his mind not to include Adu sooner rather than later.

Torres is a stud. Pachuca, one of the elite clubs in the Americas already relies on him heavily. I love Freddy but you really are not sure what you get from him: one night spectacular the next disposed often and selfish. Bradley is a safe coach: we know that. While he may ooh and aah watching Freddy’s talent, he went hard after Torres, harder than the US has gone after any dual Mexican-American citizen previously. That should tell us all where Bradley’s head is on this matter.

I think it is unfair to snub Freddy at this point. He played well against Spain, has been dangerous in recent call-ups. I think that he’s simply not given a chance by any of the clubs he signs with. He strikes me as a good cog, the kind of player that has the potential to make everyone better around him. Look what happened with Pato. He has a dismal U-20 tournament with Brazil (losing to the United States and the superior Adu and Altidore,) but because he was top of the Brazillian class, he started for AC Milan, and hardly scored his first season. Meanwhile, Freddy has been benched by small minded European coaches. Had he gone to a similar club and been treated similiarly, there wouldn’t be a comparison between him and Torres.

I can’t stop saying it. Freddy Adu should have played for Ghana in the World Cup when they offered it to him. They almost beat Brazil, they would have given him African Nations Cup up the Wazoo. Join the rest of us young Americans with career regrets. Watch Bakary, he is playing for his country.